[Heaven] Abbas asks China to support Iran sanctions as Palestinians would die in ME war
Goodtiding
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report May 1, 2010, 11:16 AM (GMT+02:00)
Chinese president Hu Jintao was taken by surprise by the Chairman of the
Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas's plea to support tough sanctions against
Iran's nuclear program when they met in Shanghai Saturday, May 1, debkafile's Middle East sources reveal. He was even more taken aback
by the argument that a Middle East war, a
realistic peril in the absence of sanctions, would cost the lives of many
Palestinians who would find themselves caught between the belligerents.
Hu
received the Palestinian leader after the gala opening of Shanghai World Expo.
According to Chinese sources, Abbas explained that for once, most Arab
nations - and the Palestinians, most of all - are ranged on the same side as
Israel and the West in their
profound anxiety about Iran's nuclear program and the threat
it poses of regional violence.
Abbas told the Chinese leader that he spoke
on behalf of a majority of Arab rulers, in particular, Egyptian president Hosni
Mubarak, United Arab Emirates president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zaed al-Nahyan and
King Abdullah II of Jordan.
Palestinian cities have no defenses against
their rockets should Iran and its allies, Syria, Hizballah and Hamas wage war
against Israel, he said, and thousands of Palestinians in the line of fire would
pay with their lives. He therefore pleaded with President Hu to drop his
objections to harsh sanctions against Iran at the UN Security Council as the only way
to avert a conflict that could spark a Middle
East conflagration.
Our sources note that this was the first time
a Palestinian leader supported Israel's position on any Middle East issue,
undertaking a mission to China in which several Israeli
officials failed earlier this year.
The Chinese leader's response is not known. However, one of Beijing's main
considerations in opposing painful sanctions against Iran, including an embargo
on refined fuel products and arms, is its championship of the Third World
nations' position that Security Council sanctions are a blunt instrument all too
often applied by the big powers, especially United States, to bend them to their
will.
Abbas' petition, in fact, complemented and underscored the Obama
administration's case for harsh sanctions against Iran, in terms
of economic benefit. Beijing need not fear
repercussions from Tehran in terms of its oil
supplies, US officials have told Beijing, since
Saudi
Arabia would be willing to make up any
shortfall - and at cheaper prices, to boot.
Abbas' arguments to Hu reinforced that pledge.
Saturday, too, the Arab League's monitoring committee was expected to endorse the Palestinian leader's acceptance of the US plan for launching indirect peace negotiations with Israel. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also voiced confidence Friday, April 30, that proximity talks would begin next week. Next Monday, Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu meets Mubarak in Sharm el-Sheikh, before the return to the region of the American Middle East envoy, George Mitchell later in the week
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